BRIDGEPORT -- A 23-year-old man allegedly led police on a high-speed chase through the city's Hollow neighborhood in the pre-dawn hours Sunday, racing through a half-dozen red lights before finally stopping.

Police said Adrian L. Simpson was first spotted at about 6:45 a.m. driving his white, 1999 Nissan Maxima at a high rate of speed through the red light at the intersection of Lindley Street and Capitol Avenue.

The car sped off eastbound on Capitol Avenue, and as police followed with siren and strobe, Simpson allegedly accelerated, turning west on North Avenue and ignoring three more red lights before nearly colliding with a car and a bicyclist at the Catherine Street intersection, police said.

Simpson then turned left on Grand Street and right on Madison Avenue before finally stopping at the corner of Harral Avenue. Police quoted Simpson saying he fled because he ran the Lindley Street light at Capitol Avenue.

Police said a witness told them Simpson threw a package the size of a baseball from the vehicle, but no such package was recovered.

Simpson was charged with engaging police in pursuit, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and failure to carry an insurance card. The vehicle was seized pending an investigation into whether Simpson has insurance on the car.